Like It's the Last Time
by day-or-knight
Summary: Everything that can go wrong, does when Jay and Erin take a winter vacation to Wisconsin. AU Linstead.
1. Chapter 1

Hey Y'all! So, I have been working on this one for a few weeks now. Please let me know what you think! :)

A little background, at the beginning of this fic the _**bold and italicized**_ are text message; Linstead is together, Voight knows, and they have his blessing.

* * *

 ** _"3 minutes till nothing but you, me and paradise."_**

 ** _"You still think Wisconsin is paradise Halstead? Have you ever been to the beach?"_**

 ** _"You'll love it."_**

 ** _"So I've been told... Repeatedly..."_**

 ** _"1 minute."_**

 ** _"You really are excited aren't you?"_**

 ** _"Hell yeah! It's our 1st weekend off in ages, and I get to spend it with you, Erin Lindsay."_**

 ** _"What do you say we get out of here?"_**

She sent him before shutting down her computer and grabbing her things, she looked towards Jay, who gave her a dorky grin and a wink of the eye causing her to blush.

"I cannot believe it!" Ruzek yelled.

Immediately the color from both Erin and Jays faces fell. They had been caught. They thought they were being careful, keeping their relationship mostly to themselves, but had recently gotten a little reckless when it came to keeping it professional at work.

"We officially have the weekend off, no big case, and no mass casualty tragedy." Ruzek sighed as he leaned back in his chair.

"Did you just jinx us? I think he just jinxed us." Atwater noted.

"I swear man, if you just messed up my weekend with my kids I will kill you..." Antonio gritted through his teeth.

"Al, help me out here, tell them I did not jinx our weekend off."

"No. Not happening, I am not touching this one with a ten foot pole." Alvin said as he threw his hands in the air to surrender.

"Ruzek, do you remember the last time you ended up jinxing us on our weekend off?" Jay chimed in.

"Psh. No. Cause it's never happened."

"Wrong." The unit said in unison as Voight stepped out of his office to join in on the argument.

"Four months ago. It was our only weekend off for the month and you just so happened to say the exact same thing as you have today. We ended up busting out asses all weekend to catch the perp and _someone_ ended up in the hospital after the bust." Erin finally voiced, glaring at Ruzek.

"Ohh, yeahh." Ruzek said as the pieces began to come together.

"Alright, everyone get out of here. Go home get some sleep." Voight instructed before going back into his office.

"Halstead, you coming to Molly's? Ruzek's treat, it is after all, the least he could do." Antonio asked as they made their way into the locker room.

"Hey now, I will buy the first few beers but on a cops dime? I can't exactly buy everything..." Ruzek shouted from the other side of the lockers.

"Don't worry about it Ruzek, can't make it anyways. I am going to Wisconsin for the weekend."

"Wisconsin? What's in Wisconsin?" Asked Ruzek.

"Meth Labs and sociopaths. Oh, and some cheese." Antonio voiced.

"No, as a matter of fact my great grandfather built a log cabin up there, so I am getting away for the weekend, unless of course your fucking jinx happens."

"No, I promise, it won't. Enjoy your cheese, I will just see what Lindsay's up to." Jay heard Ruzek say as he walked out the door.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"No Ruzek, I'm sorry but I am going out of town this weekend." She lied as she heard her front door open.

"Erin?" Jay yelled from her living room.

She quickly stuck her head out the bedroom door frame, rolling her eyes, pointing to the phone and mouthing Ruzek before walking back into her room to finish packing, Jay following behind her.

"Yeah, tell Kim that I am sorry, that we will just have to go out for drinks another night." She said as she listened to him ramble on as Jay came up behind her, placing his hands on her hips as his lips began to softly kiss her neck "No, I didn't know that Halstead was going to Wisconsin."

Jay pulled back and his eyebrows rose at the mention of his name. "Listen Adam, I would love to chat but I have to go.." She told him before they exchanged goodbyes.

"God, that kid! He just never shuts up."

"You ready to go?" Jay laughed.

"Wisconsin. You're taking me to Wisconsin. And you are sure you know how to get there?"

"Northern Wisconsin. And yes Erin, I know how to drive."

"Oh, you're not driving, you can point me in the right direction but you are not driving, not until hell freezes over at least."

"Seriously Erin?"

"Oh and can take my Car. Now lets go." Erin smiled as she grabbed her keys off the table, pulling her luggage behind her.

They quickly loaded Erin's bags into the back of her car and Jay threw his into the trunk before they both got into the Chrysler, taking off down the back streets of Chicago before getting onto the interstate.

XXXXXXXXX

"Take this exit and make a left." Jay instructed.

"Are we almost there?"

"God, you're worse than a child. Yes, we just have to cross this mountain and then we will be there." Jay laughed.

"Good, because this snow is getting heavier and I am starving." Erin said as she turned the windshield wipers on high.

"Careful Lindsay." Jay gritted through his teeth, holding onto the handle bar above the passenger seat as he felt the tires begin to spin in the soft snow.

"It's fine, we can make it." She said reassuringly as they slowly trekked up the steep incline.

But she spoke too soon, no sooner than the words had left her lips did the tires become stuck.

"Shit." Erin cursed under her breath.

"Well, this is peachy."

"It was you're idea to come up here in the first place Jay. Maybe if _someone_ would have checked the weather forecast before we left we wouldn't be sitting here watching snow pile up around us."

"Oh, so not checking to see that it was going to snow four feet is my fault?" He exaggerated.

"Never said it was."

"Didn't have to."

They sat in an uncomfortable silence, both their tempers fuming but not at the other, rather at themselves.

"I'll be right back." Jay said as he opened the door, forcefully pushing back a snowdrift.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm trying to make sure we don't die of frostbite if that's ok with you?" He said as he stuck his head back into the door before slamming it shut.

Erin turned around and watched as Jay got down to the ground the best he could and began messing with the undercarriage of the car, no more than a minute later he returned.

"Now will you answer my question?" Erin asked as she put the fan for the heat on full blast.

"I was clearing the snow out from under the tailpipe so it doesn't get clogged, it should buy us about an hour or two if the snow decides to let up." He said, raising his hands to the vents of the car.

"I'm sorry about earlier, it's not your fault were stuck, it's mine, I should have been more responsible."

"No Er, it's my fault, it was my idea to come out here and I just wasn't expecting it to come a damn blizzard."

"You know, they say that in order to last longer in these conditions, it's best to have skin to skin contact." Erin said mischievously, as she turned off the engine.

"Really? And where did you learn that?" Jay asked as he leaned in closer to Erin, getting the idea of where things were heading.

"I couldn't sleep the other night, so I was watching some late night doctor on TV."

"That sounds familiar." Jay rolled his eyes as he leaned across the center console, capturing Erins lips on his before sliding his seat back and helping Erin over the center console.

XXXXXXXXX

"Well that was uh... A first."

"What? You've never had sex in a car before Halstead?" Erin chuckled as she climbed back over the center console, into the driver's seat.

"I have, I just never expected to do it in the Chrysler of all things.."

"Well it was a little cramped..."

"So what now?" Jay asked.

"I wish we had something to eat.." Erin sighed as her stomach growled.

"Yeah, me too. I don't think I have eaten since this morning."

"Liar! I seen you polish off a cannoli and an eclair that Michelle had brought since we couldn't leave for lunch!" Erin argued.

"Yeah... I did... Well you're one to talk, who ate all three of the Bear Claws?!"

"I was hungry! I hadn't eaten anything since dinner last night!"

"Why are we arguing about food?"

"I don't know..." Erin sighed rolling her eyes. "Wait..." She said before she climbed into the backseat.

"What are you doing?"

Erin did not answer but instead pulled out a bag from behind Jay's seat.

"I keep this in here in case of emergencies."

"You mean you actually planned ahead for something? Who are you and what have you done with my Lindsay?"

"Shut up." Erin said as she climbed back up front, cranking the engine for heat, before reaching up and turning on the overhead light.

She opened the bag, finding a flashlight, a lighter, a pop tart and nutrigrain bar, a bottle of water and a few other necessities.

"Wow you really were prepared." Jay said as he took the pop tart from Erin hands, splitting it in half as Erin did the same with the nutrigrain bar and they gave each other the difference.

"Told you. Oh and I found this.." Erin said as she reached behind her, grabbing a large blanket they kept in the car for cases involving kids.

"I love you."

"I guess I love you too even though we are stuck in Wisconsin..."

"Oh, I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to the pop tart." Jay boyishly smiled.

"Asshole."

"You know you love me, considering you just said it yourself."

"It's debatable somedays..." Erin said as she thought back to when they first said those three words.

* * *

"So... Now that we have christened my new couch..." Jay said as they laid there lazily watching TV.

"Your new couch is like a rock compared to mine. I think you should return it and get one that we can test drive first."

"I told you I am a function over form kinda guy."

"So you did.." Erin smiled as she leant up to kiss Jay, who quickly returned the kiss before flipping Erin onto her back as the kiss became more heated. Jay began to reach down and pull his shirt that Erin was wearing over her head, when the ringing of Erin's phone pulled them both out of their bliss.

"Don't answer it..." Jay mumbled against Erin's skin as he placed soft kisses along her throat.

"But what if it's important?"

"They can leave a message."

Erin silently agreed as she returned her attention back to the man in front of her. No sooner than a minute later though, did Jays phone start ringing.

"Damn it." Jay cursed as he got off the couch and made his way over to the dining room table where their phones laid. "Damn it." He cursed again as looked at the ID.

"Halstead."

"Halstead, need you and Erin to come in, we got a location on where the leader of the Cobalts is shacking, need all hands on deck." Said Voight.

"Yes Sir, we will be there in twenty."

"Good and get suited up when you get here, we will meet in the tech room."

"Sounds good." Jay said as Voight hung up.

"What's up?" Erin asked as she walked into the kitchen sporting a fresh outfit from the change of clothes she kept at Jays.

"They got a lead on the leader of the Cobalts, Voight wants us there ASAP."

Erin let out a sigh and put on a fake smile. "Ok, well lets go."

"Erin wait." Jay said as he grabbed her upper arm, pulling her back to him.

"We're going to be-" Erin was saying before she was cut off by a slow and searing kiss.

"I don't care, Voight already knows about us."

"But what about-" Erin was saying before being cut off by another kiss.

"Who cares, let them think what they want to think. If they haven't figured it out by now then I doubt they ever will."

"You're right. I mean we have been together what now, almost four-" Erin was saying before Jay interrupted her once again.

"I really hate it when you do that..."

"Really? Cause you never seem to stop me..." Jay smiled as he leaned in for another kiss.

"We're going to be late..." Erin said as she put a finger up to his lips. "And I don't think you want to show up to the district in sweats."

"Fine." Jay sighed as he walked to the bedroom, quickly getting dressed before heading out the door in a matter of minutes.

They arrived to the precinct, walking through the basement towards their gear lockers.

"So, you ditch us for beers saying that you're 'busy' but yet you still show up to work?" Ruzek asked Jay as him and Erin began unpacking their gear.

"Yeah, it's called my job. I really don't want to get fired for not showing up.."

"No, that's not it, there's something else. No, not something else, but rather someone else. Who is she?"

"Who's who?"

"The girl. There's a girl, I can see it written all over your face."

"Yeah, there is a girl." Jay smiled, as he felt Erin watching them.

"Well, tell me, what's her name? What's she like?"

"She's-"

"Hey, boss wants everyone in the tech room." Antonio said as he stuck his head into the room.

Adam made his way out of the room, leaving Erin and Jay.

"So what were you going to say?" Erin asked curiously as she walked over to Jay, turning around so he could strap her into her vest.

"I was going to tell him that you are indescribable, that we could stand here all day and there would still never be enough words to describe you."

"Oh, is that so?" Erin smiled as she headed out the door.

The unit briefly met, Voight assigning them their locations in order to make the bust go down without a hitch.

"Halstead and Lindsay take the back. Atwater and Dawson take the front. Me, Al, and Ruzek will take the side. Mouse, you're our eyes and ears. Lets move." Voight said as he grabbed a long gun from the table in front of him and headed to his vehicle. They arrived to their location no more than ten minutes later, each pair abandoning their car an alley away and walking to their respective location.

 _"On three we breech. One... Two... Three!"_ Voight ordered over the com.

Jay pulled back the metal door as him and Erin entered into the small dark room, switching on the flashlights attached to their long guns, they cleared every inch of the room, walking in sync before going over to the wooden door and pulling it open. This room was bigger, almost the size of a multi-car garage, the two partners split up, but never more than five feet away from each other.

Jay and Erin continued on through the building, both thinking that maybe the lead was just another bust, until they came upon yet another door at the end of the room. Jay swiftly nodded to Erin as she raised her gun, as he opened the door. She stepped in, hearing Jay right behind her.

"Jay.." Erin whispered as she threw up a fist into the air, thinking she seen movement out of the corner of her eye.

She pointed in the direction the movement came from and they both slowly started their way over.

"CPD! Search Warrant!" "Jay was saying as they stepped closer.

"Take another step and I will blow your head off." Spoke a deep voice from the corner that halted both their movements.

"Now, we don't need any of that. Why don't you place your weapon on the ground so we can talk this out?" Jay tried to reason as he shined his flashlight towards the man, noticing the high caliber weapon in the mans hands.

"Yeah? Why don't you do the same?"

"It's not that easy." Erin spoke.

"Well I guess neither of us will be getting what we want, will we now?" The man said as he began to grow agitated.

"How about yo-" Jay was asking as an ear piercing explosion rang throughout the room, the smell of gunpowder filling the air.

Erin took no time before firing off a few rounds from her magazine, hitting the man in the chest before she walked over, kicking his gun out of the way and slapping cuffs around the mans wrists.

"Jay, a little help here." Erin asked as she struggled to turn the man who was twice her size, onto his back.

"Halstead?" Erin asked again as she got no response, she glanced over towards where Jay had been, by her side, only to see her partner and boyfriend laying on the ground.

"Jay!" Erin screamed as she ran over, turning him over from his side, onto his back. "Shit, shit, shit, shit." She whispered as she began inspecting for any wounds in the crucial areas before inspecting his vest.

"Ow." Jay raspily moaned as he opened his eyes.

"Are you ok!?"

"I feel like I have an elephant on my chest." Jay groaned.

"But are you ok?"

"Yes, it got the vest." He told her as he attempted to sit up.

"Damn it Jay!" Erin cursed as she stood up and turned around to walk out the door, giving Jay only a second to realize that she had tears in her eyes.

"Erin, wait wh-" Jay was asking as the rest of the team came storming into the room.

"Dude you ok?" Ruzek asked

"Yeah, vest took the hit."

"I want you to go to Med just to be sure."

"Sarge, I'm fine. I'm not bleeding, nothing is broken, it never got past my vest."

"Where's Lindsay?"

Voight gave a silent questioning look to Jay, who knew nothing he responded by shrugging his shoulders.

"I'll go find her, she couldn't have gotten too far." Jay said as he struggled his way out the door.

Jay walked out the door, the cold rain that had begun falling since entering the building, gently hitting him in the face.

"Lindsay!" His gruff voice yelled as best he could, the force of the rain growing harder as he walked down an alley. "Erin!" He attempted to yell again, his chest protesting each breath, each movement. His heart picked up pace, as the thoughts in his brain began to run a mile a minute, unsure what had happened, thinking the worst, wondering why she was acting the way she was. Jay made his way back to where they had parked the Chrysler, and the rest of the vehicles, catching the movement of someone pacing next to the cars underneath a dim streetlight.

"Erin?"

"What do you want Jay?"

"Are you ok?"

"Am I ok?" she scoffed "I thought you died Jay! So no, I'm not ok."

"I'm fine Erin, the vest took the bullet."

"This time, but what about next time Jay!? What if next time you don't get as lucky!"

"Erin, I'm here now and I'm fine. This is all a part of the job, you know that. What's going on? I've been shot before and you have never acted like this."

"Oh, so having the love of my life being shot right in front of me is all apart of the job? Maybe that is what is going on! Yes, you have been sh-"

"Say that again." Jay smiled.

"Say what again." Erin said as she felt her cheeks redden.

"The first part of your ramble.."

"You being shot in front of me is all a part of the job?"

"Erin..."

"Fine, I love you Jay Halstead. You happy now?"

Jay pulled her into his arms, telling her "And I love you Erin Lindsay." Before he kissed her passionately on the lips.

* * *

"What are you thinking about?" Jay asked, noticing Erin had drifted off.

"I love you." Erin said out of the blue.

"I love you too." Jay said, leaning over, giving her a kiss as he reached for her hand.

Just as Jay pulled back, the car engine died from the amount of snow. "Well, there goes our heat for the night." Jay sighed.

"At least we have this blanket?"

"Yeah."

"Why don't we try to get a few hours of sleep, and hopefully the snow will have stopped by then so we can get out, I seen a gas station about a mile back, maybe then we can get out of this mess." Erin suggested.

"I'm sorry about all of this, I will make it up to you, I promise."

"You know, the beach does sound really good right now..." Erin smiled.

"Anywhere is fine with me Er, as long as you are with me."


	2. Chapter 2

"Jay..." Erin raspily whispered as she woke from her slumber.

"Jay.." She said a little louder, still no response.

"Halstead!" She yelled.

"What!"

"You're hogging the blanket."

Jay let out a sigh as he gave away some of the cover.

"Thanks.."

"What time is it?" Jay said, not moving from his reclined seat.

"Almost six."

Jay let out a sigh, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he sat his chair up. He knew that once he was up, he could never go back to sleep.

"Is there any food left?" He asked as his stomach growled.

"I'm sure there might be a crumb or two underneath the seats if you wanna check." Erin said as she still laid in her seat, her eyes closed.

Jay sighed, reaching over to try to crank the engine, even though he knew it would not crank, he knew of he turned it just right they could get radio.

 _"... and today we can expect cloudy skies as another storm system moves across the area, highs will reach the low twenties with winds gusting around fifteen miles per hour. Tonight..."_

"Great."

"I guess it's a good thing we packed heavy."

Jay said nothing in return, as he began moving about the car.

"What are you doing?"

"Looking for.. Ha! I found it!" He exclaimed as he turned on the flashlight.

"Be right back." He said as he opened up the car door, an influx of cold air filling the car as he stepped out.

Erin sat there in the silence of the car, the radio softly playing in the background, as the wind pushed the snow around outside. She checked their phones only to avail, no service. No more than two minutes later Jay returned.

"No way we are getting out of here unless the snow melts, or we get towed. I don't see a plow coming through until at least tomorrow."

"Great..."

"There was that gas station about a mile back, lets throw some layers on and see if they can help us out."

Erin agreed, popping the latch for the trunk before grabbing the handle of her door, pushing it back with all her strength against the banked snow. She stepped out, shutting the door, walking into a snow bank that came up to her waist. Jay was already rummaging through their suitcases, pulling out the thickest clothing for them both. They layered shirts and pants on to the best of their ability. Jay shut the trunk, Erin locked it and they turned, beginning to make a trail down the road.

"Wait! I forgot something!" Erin said as she stopped in her tracks and went back to the car.

"What did you forget?" Jay asked her as she returned a few minutes later.

"My piece."

Jay let out a small laugh, "You brought your gun?"

"Yeah." Erin said as they continued walking.

"I thought you said this weekend was and I quote "No Work, No weapons.""

"And you actually believed me?"

"Nope. I snuck mine into my jacket while you were still in the car." He grinned.

The deep snow drifts had eased off, now only half a foot deep, and their pace picked up.

"So, I have told you a lot about my life, I think it is time for you to tell me something."

"Seems fair enough."

"You have told me about a lot about you and Mouse, but never how he saved your life or how you saved his."

Jay let out a sigh, he knew she would ask one day, and he figured she thought now was better than never.

"If you don't feel comfortable answering it's-"

"It's fine." Jay said as he felt Erin grab his hand for comfort. "Which one do you want to hear?"

Erin took a second to think, "How did you save Mouse."

"Which time?" he said as he laughed to himself.

"Surprise me."

Jay nodded his head, and took a deep breath in. "We were both in the second leg of our first tour, stationed in a small town just outside the capital of Afghanistan. Mouse... He… We had gone out in a three vehicle convoy that day. I was in the second hum-vee, he was riding in the first, we had went out on patrol late that morning, our COs had warned us to be cautious, not that we never were but to be extra aware that day because of increased activity in the area. Princess and Dirty John, I'll explain the nicknames later," Jay said as he glanced at Erin who was giving him a curious look "they were cracking jokes over the headset as usual, which had us all laughing, Princess was riding in the first truck and had just cracked a Yo Mama joke, those were his favorite. I'll never forget his voice, telling those stupid jokes. He had just finished telling us one that almost had a few of the guys at each other's throats, I was about to tell him never to give up his day job, but it was right after that when..." Jay's voice had drifted off, and they stopped walking down the snowy road. Erin took his other hand and squeezed both of his shaking hands, "Jay, you don't have to continue."

He shook his head and cleared his throat, pulling his hands away from her and walking ahead, she could see the internal struggle he was battling, peeling the scab off the old wound. "It was an IED, the hum-vee drove right over it. When those of us in the second vehicle, finally realized what was going on it was too late and we were being ambushed, I grabbed my rifle and jumped out of closest door, I didn't care about the consequences at the time, I cared about the safety of my brothers. The rest of the guys from my truck were right behind me, jumping out as the gunfire surrounded us, I yelled to Ry who was on the machine gun and told him to cover me as I ran towards the mangled steel. What was left of the truck had been tossed a good twenty yards off the road, landing on it's top, I ran over to the first door I came too, and stuck my head through the broken glass, it was bad Er. Blood and gas was everywhere, something acidic was in the air, I could barely see anything through all the smoke, it was... I thought they were all dead..." Jay closed his eyes to try and regain his emotions that were spiraling out of his control, Erin's heart broke, she felt the need to do something so she did the only thing she knew how in that moment, she stood up onto the tips of her toes, giving him a light kiss on the lips, as a tear slid down both their cheeks. "I was pulling my head out of the truck, when I heard someone coughing, it was Mouse, he was still strapped into his seat in the middle of the truck, holding onto his handheld GPS and rifle for dear life, upside down. I crawled in, and checked a few pulses of the other guys, they were already gone, so I cut him free, and we both barely escaped by the grit of our teeth, the gas had been ignited and the truck exploded behind us. I couldn't save them, it doesn't matter how many people tell me that they were already dead, I could have at least let their families have something to bury…"

"Jay, tell me something, do you have superpowers?"

"What? No." he shook his head before giving her a quizzical look.

"Then, why blame yourself, you just said that they were already gone but Mouse was still alive, you had to save him, you couldn't have magically stopped the explosion and saved everyone."

Jay said nothing as he pulled his head down and stared at the ground, pondering her words.

"I think I see the gas station." Erin said attempting to break the sorrowful mood that had fallen upon them as they continued their trek towards the block building. They made it to the entrance of the drive, a partial shoveled parking lot with a car sitting on one side of the faded blue building, on the other side was a one vehicle mechanic shop, a neon open sign flashed in the dusty window. Jay and Erin stepped foot into the warm building, the temperature difference of the sweltering heat inside the convince store versus the blistering cold outside, caused a burning sensation to spread across both of their faces.

"Hello?" Jay asked as the bells on the door rang as it closed behind them.

"I'll be back in a second." Erin said before she turned and walked across the store, down a small hallway.

The store was small, coolers lined the right side of the wall, while machines of sugary and hot drinks lined the right side of the store, shelves of snacks were in the middle and the register was against the back wall. A light thump of something falling or closing could be heard coming from the back room.

Jay walked around, picking up a few bags of snacks before walking over towards the coffee machines and fixing two cups.

"Still no one?" Erin asked as she walked up beside him.

"No, but I think someone is in the back room, check it out?" Jay said as he nodded his head towards a door behind the register counter. Erin nodded her head, and pulled her gun out from under her jacket, Jay doing the same as they simultaneously approached the door. Jay reached down, turning the handle with one hand and thrusting it backwards, he entered the storage room, going straight as Erin followed behind, turning off to the left and walking across the space, Jay began to slowly clear the area, one step at a time, Erin on the other side doing the same, they cleared the room, row by row as they reached they last set of shelves, Erin moved ahead "Hey Jay.." she said, her voice almost a whisper.

Jay rounded the corner, Erin's back to him as he observed the situation in front of him, two subjects, a make and a female both in their elder years were laying on blood stained concrete, he quickly turned around, to make sure that no one would be making any surprise attacks and to be cautious of the evidence spread across the floor. "Cover me." Erin said as she turned around to check either of the two victims for a pulse. Jay glanced back and Erin shook her head, letting him know that they were both deceased. They holstered their guns back into their jackets.

"I'm going to find a phone, call it in."

"I'll find gloves; we don't need to contaminate the scene any more than we have already."

They retraced their steps out of the storage room, Erin quickly found a box of rubber gloves on the counter, next to the fountain drink machines. She threw a pair at Jay, before throwing on a pair herself.

"Found a phone." Jay said as he thumbed over towards the device mounted on the wall, picking up the receiver.

" _Iron County 911 what's your emergency?"_

"My name is Jay Halstead, I am a Detective with the Chicago Police Department, me and my girlfriend got stranded in our car overnight due to the snow and it let up long enough this morning for us to get out, we are at a blue building convenience store and gas station off the main road, and stumbled across a 10-31. You might want to send someone over here."

" _A 10-31? And you are sure about this sir?"_ The female spoke a second later.

"Yes ma'am, it seems to have occurred within the past hour or so."

" _Ok sir, my partner is having personnel sent to your location right now."_

"Ok."

Jay hung up the receiver, "I guess we should head back outside till patrol shows up."

" _If_ patrol show up, the roads haven't been shoveled, how can we expect anyone to get out here?" Erin said as they walked back out into the blistering cold.

"They will get here eventually."

"So, what do you think happened?" Erin asked changing the topic.

"Well, they both had GSWs to the back of the head, which means it was either someone angry or it was personal, and it looked like there was nothing wrong with the register so it wasn't a robbery."

"How could someone be so cruel to do that to an elderly couple? I mean, they are just out here trying to make a decent living like everyone else in the world."

"Erin, we see this stuff all the time, we don't know their back story, we don't know anything about them."

"I know, but that is always just something I ask myself every time we get a case."

"Technically this is not our case…" Jay told Erin as she shot him a pleading look. "Erin… No, we are not working while we are on vacation."

"But Jay… What if they miss something, they don't have the resources and training like we do." She said saying anything to get him on her side.

"No. Babe, we actually got a weekend away from work, we have three whole days to ourselves, there is no Voight calling saying we have a case, it was supposed to be a relaxing weekend getaway."

"To Wisconsin."

"Northern Wisconsin."

They stood in silence out front of the building, still waiting on the arrival of the local police, Erin looked at Jay, and bit her lip, "Please?" she blurted out.

Jay let out a sigh, he knew he would never win an argument with her.

"Yes!" Erin rejoiced as she threw her arms around Jay's neck. "I promise to make it up to you."

"I know."

"Your birthday is coming up soon.." she said mischievously, slowly closing the small amount of space in between them.

"So it is."

Erin was millimeters from Jay's lips, when the distant sound of an engine coming up the road interrupted her actions.

"Finally! It's about damn time they showed up! What did they do, stop for doughnuts and coffee?" she voiced as she pulled away, her antics resulting in a curious look and a laugh from Jay "What, I'm cold."

"You could have told- Erin… Those aren't cops."

Erin spun around to see what he was talking about "We need to go, _now_." Jay said as he grabbed Erin's arm, quickly pulling her away from the front of the building.

They rounded the corner of the convenience store, ducking into a small crevice that surrounded them with concrete behind and on both sides, but concealed them from the two men on dirt bikes as they approached the building but stayed on the main road. Erin and Jay pulled out their service weapons, keeping them down at their sides, intently watching the two people on the dirt bikes.

"What do you think they are doing?" Erin lowly whispered.

"Don't know, we're too far back to see a whole lot but they don't seem to be friendly type." Jay pointed out as the people on the dirt bikes messed with something around the console, before cranking the engines and driving on up the road towards the stuck Chrysler.

"Think they are gone?" Erin asked, but before Jay had a chance to get the words out of his mouth, the revving of the engines could be heard coming back down the road.

The bikes got closer to the building once more and both Jay and Erin jumped, surprised by the sound of rapid gunfire piercing the air, breaking the silence of the frigid winter morning. Bullets began whooshing by their heads as they pressed their backs to the sides of partial cylinder block enclosure, as the copper began ricocheting off the metal and concrete further down the building. The smell of gasoline pouring out from the pumps began to grow potent, as the suspects stopped their bikes but continued to fire their weapons towards the building.

Jay moved slightly forward, pulling his gun up to eye level, checking for a clear shot, he noticed Erin out of the corner of his eye, doing the same.

Jay nodded his head, Erin nodding back. Silent confirmation that they were on the same page.

They both fired their weapons, one of them hitting one of the dirt bike shooters in the arm holding his automatic firearm, the man lost control over his weapon as his arm flailed all over the place, his finger still on the trigger as bullets went flying sporadically into the air.

"Get Down!" Jay yelled. He crouched low to the ground, Erin sliding down next to him in the small space as they both ducked their heads, being wary of any stray flying bullets; he opened his right arm and pulled Erin into his side as the gunfire continued on for a few more seconds before stopping, and once again, they heard the sound of the dirt bikes, revving their engines before blasting off down the road.

Jay lifted his head and observed their surroundings.

"Oh Shit." He said, coughing on the fumes from the gas that had been leaking.

"What's wrong? Are you hit?" Erin asked as she got to her feet, beginning to check to see if he had any new injuries.

"I'm fine, but we have a bigger problem." Jay said, looking out into the parking lot in front of them. She turned her head, to see what he was talking about, expecting to come face to face with the two men who could have returned once more, only instead she seen that they were face to face with a raging inferno of red and orange flames with no way out.


	3. Chapter 3

"Fuck Jay! What are we going to do?!" Erin asked, watching the flames grow closer to them.

"I'm thinking."

"Well think a little faster, preferably before we die." She coughed.

"What do you want me to do Erin? Run through the flames? Magically pull a ladder out of thin air?"

"No, I just… I always thought that I would die at the barrel of a gun, never from smoke inhalation or fire."

"I know." Jay said sorrowfully "This trip was my idea Erin, and I'm sorry for dragging you up here. When we make it out of here, we are going back home."

"Jay…" Erin sadly smiled.

"Er, were getting out of here."

"I…" Erin was saying before she felt a hand on her shoulder.

She turned around, and met face to face with a man in a mask, bright yellow helmet, and black turnout gear with reflective yellow striping.

"Ma'am I need to get you two safety." His deep voice broke through the air mask.

"Oh thank god." Erin sighed in relief.

"Can you walk?" the man asked.

They both nodded, as another firefighter appeared, to help them both away from the building.

Jay and Erin were assisted away from the building, as the fire department put a special foam on the lit gasoline.

They were assisted out onto the main road, that was now covered in various fire apparatuses, law enforcement officials and medical personnel. The two men, led Jay and Erin towards a waiting fire apparatus, sitting them down on the front bumper.

"Holly! We have two victims with probable smoke inhalation, grab the oxygen!" the man yelled towards the back of the ambulance.

"You guys ok?" the same man asked as he turned back towards Erin and Jay.

"Yeah, I think we are just a little beat is all." said Erin as a woman with red hair walked up to them dragging a green and silver bottle behind her.

"Ok, you may be fine, but we are going to give you some oxygen just as a safety measure." She said as the handed them each an oxygen mask.

They both nodded and put the oxygen masks up to their faces.

"This is crazy! I mean how could something like this even happen? I mean I've seen a lot of crazy things in my five years on this job, but this, this isn't one of them. You two are lucky to be alive. Damn. So, how did you guys get out here anyways, that blizzard was amess." The female rambled, as Erin and Jay shared a look.

"Holly." Spoke a deep voice, coming up beside the firetruck.

"Yeah Nick?"

"I think your rambling is scaring our patients." The muscular man spoke as he checked the oxygen flow on the tank. "Sorry about her, she tends to talk a lot when we get an interesting call."

"It's ok, we're used to it." Jay laughed as he pulled the oxygen mask away from his face.

"Ok, how about we get you guys into the back of our ambo and out of this cold, we need to check you guys over for any injuries or anything more than smoke inhalation before we can release you. It won't take long." Smiled Holly as she grabbed her stethoscope from around her neck with one hand, while the other hand held the blood pressure cuff.

Both of their vitals were normal, and though, they did inhale some smoke, it was nothing too serious.

"Alright, you guys are good to go." Nick said as he gave them each a bottle of water before packing up the oxygen tank. Jay and Erin nodded their head, thanking both the paramedics before walking off, Jay found a uniformed officer, asking if they could take them to the Chrysler. Jay and Erin thanked the deputy as he dropped them off on the freshly plowed road.

They walked up, unlocking the car, Jay was about to get in when something sticking out from under the windshield wiper blade caught his attention.

"Where you going?" Erin asked before she grabbed the handle of the car.

"This," he said holding an envelope in a pair of gloves from his jacket pocket "was placed under the blade."

"Who's it from? Who's it for?"

"Doesn't say." Jay said as he pulled a thin piece of paper from the envelope.

"Well open it."

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Jay laughed.

"Sorry.." Erin said as she stood onto the tip of her toes, peering over his shoulder.

 ** _Detectives… I assume you are curious about the present I left you at the convenience store. Just know that I am always one step ahead of you._**

"You don't think he meant that man and woman do you?" Erin asked reading over the message typed out on a sheet of notebook paper once more.

"I don't know, could be, but this isn't even our investigation Er, I mean…"

"Whoever it is practically threatened our lives Jay!"

"Ok you know what, I could use a shower and a hot meal right now, let's head up to the cabin and then we can sort this out." Jay said as they got back into the car, Erin agreed surprisingly getting into the passenger seat.

They pulled out onto the freshly scrapped pavement, as Jay pointed out sentimental details about some of the places they were passing.

"Don't we need food?" Erin asked as they turned onto a gravel road.

"Nah I had Oliver, a family friend that lives up the road, make sure it was stocked to the brim." Jay said as he pulled up in front of the cabin, turning off the engine and climbing out of the car, quickly running around back to grab the bags.

"You coming?" he asked, noticing Erin hadn't stepped out of the Chrysler.

"You didn't tell me this cabin was so… full of character." Erin said before continuing, noticing Jay's curious stare. "The dark door really compliments the exterior, and the landscape with the wrap around deck and open… windows. Why are you laughing?"

"You've been watching way too much HGTV."

"It's my guilty pleasure ok, and why are you calling me out when I know for a fact those house hunter's episodes didn't save to the DVR themselves."

Jay laughed, placing a light kiss on Erin's lips before grabbing the bags he could carry in one trip to the front porch, setting them down to unlock the door, and carrying them inside, Erin following behind, dragging two bags herself.

They settled into the cabin, unpacking and taking a quick shower. "It's not like we haven't ever had something similar to this happen before, but no one knew we were coming up here besides Hank, Mouse and Will."

"But what if whoever it is didn't know we were coming up here, they just followed us."

"I don't think this is random Erin, they know who we are."

"Yeah… Alright, I say we call Hank, fill him in and if worse comes to worse we head back to Chi-town early."

"Alright." Jay said, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. Erin had just pulled her phone out from a suit case when a knock came from the door. They both instinctively reached for their holstered weapons.

"Iron County Police Department! Open up!" A deep voice spoke before the knocking continued.

Jay walked cautiously to the front door, keeping a hand on his weapon. "ID on the glass."

There was grumbling before the sound of two badges hitting the glass, Jay looked at the badges and the faces that came with them, before unlocking the door.

"Can we help you?" Erin asked as she came to stand beside Jay.

"I'm Detective Avery Marshall, this is my partner Kendra Smith, we understand that you guys we at the gas station this morning, is there anything more you could tell us?"

"Please come in." Erin said, not wanting anymore warm air to escape the cabin. "There was a Caucasian Male and Female found deceased in the back room, with GSW's to the head, we called you guys, went outside and got shot at, nothing more to tell." Erin told them.

"Seen the Illinois plates on your car, you guys in law enforcement?" Detective Avery asked, motioning towards the holstered weapons on their sides.

"Yeah, we're from Chicago, I'm Detective Jay Halstead, this is my Partner Erin Lindsay, we're out of the twenty first district, up here visiting for the weekend."

"Alright, what can you tell us about the guys who attacked you?"

"Two men on dirtbikes, they were bundled up well but judging by how they were riding they were maybe early thirties?"

The two local detectives asked several more questions, "Alright Detectives, I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay, if you have any questions or can think of anything else, feel free to give us a call." Detective Kendra said giving them her card as they got up and began making their way toward the door.

"Well, there is one more thing." Jay said as he walked into the kitchen, coming back with the note in hand. "This was on our windshield when one of your officers returned us to our car."

The detectives read it over, "Any idea who might of put it there?"

"No, no one knew we were coming up here except our boss, my brother and a friend." Jay told them.

"Mind if we take this?"

"Can I get a picture of it first and maybe a copy of it later?"

The detectives agreed, before taking the paper and heading back down the drive.

"Alright, I'm going to call Hank, fill him in and then try to do a timeline of the events." Erin said as she grabbed her phone, able to call Voight without interruption.

 _"_ _Hey Kid, wasn't expecting to hear from you until Monday."_

"Yeah well, we kind of ran into some trouble."

 _"_ _You guys too huh, seems like Ruzek's jinx came back to bite us all in the ass, we've got a case."_

"Need us back home?" Erin asked, as Jay gave her a curious look from across the room.

 _"_ _No, no, we've got it handled, I would say enjoy your time off but what's up?"_

Erin let out a sigh before explaining the events of the morning and the message left on the windshield.

"Yeah, Jay got a picture of it but the detectives here took it as evidence, we can maybe send Mouse a digital copy of it."

 _"_ _Alright kid, we'll do what we can but I can't promise anything, just be careful."_

They exchanged goodbyes, "What did he say?" Jay asked as she ended the call.

"Well, they are working on a case this weekend, but he said that he'll look into it." Erin told him, stifling a yawn. "I'm going to write down what I can remember so-"

"Babe, it's been rough the past couple of days, you're tired, I'm tired, let's call it a night." Jay said as he grabbed her hand and guided her toward the bedroom without an argument.

Erin was jolted awake the next morning, the loud bang of metal bringing her out of her sleep. She looked around, studying the unfamiliar room around her before she got up, deciding to see what all the commotion was coming from. She grabbed the closest article of clothing, Jay's t-shirt, and slid it on, before walking out into the living area.

Jay stood in the kitchen at the stove, in a pair of sweat pants, his back to her. Erin leaned against the frame of the entry way, "You don't have to do that you know."

Jay turned around and smiled. "Morning babe." Before he stopped what he was doing, going over to give her a kiss. "I know I don't but I want to."

"You make me breakfast every Saturday morning, at least let me make it for you once."

Jay smiled, thinking about it, "What do you want to do today?"

"I don't know, we could go skiing…" Erin said before giving Jay a kiss "or go to the shops in town…" she told him, giving him another kiss "or…" The words never came as Jay gave her a deep kiss on the lips, eliciting a groan from Erin.

"Or we could do this." He said as he lifted her up onto the kitchen counter, his lips trailing down her skin.

Erin let out a laugh, wrapping her arms around his neck "I like the way you think Detective." She smiled, leaning in for another kiss but before her lips could touch his, he pulled away.

"Shit." He cursed as he quickly went to the stove where breakfast was now burnt. Erin bit the inside of her cheek to stifle the laughter that wanted to escape, instead she jumped down off the counter, pulling out the ingredients to make breakfast once again.

They made and ate breakfast, Erin showered while Jay cleaned up the dishes, Jay showering as Erin got ready.

"Hey Er, where ever we do go, I want to stop by their police department and see what they have on the case." Jay said, Erin agreed, wanting to know more information about yesterday's events.

They went out to the car and made their way down the snowy drive.

"I was thinking we could eat out tonight, there is this restaurant up by the slopes that is supposed to be really good, maybe we can check it out?" Erin asked.

"Sounds good."

They passed the gas station, yellow crime scene tape littered the premises, a few vehicles were parked in the parking lot. "Looks like they've got CSU out. Must have found something"

"Yeah, I guess so." Erin agreed. "This jackass won't get off my rear." She said a few miles down the road, looking into her rear-view mirror.

"Slow up, maybe he will pass."

Erin slowed, but the man stayed on their bumper "What the fuck is his problem?" Jay said before feeling a jolt as something hit the back of the car, pushing it forward. Erin gripped the steering wheel, her knuckles turning white as she pressed the break, hoping it would cause the vehicle to stop. To no avail, she pressed her foot on the gas, hoping that would get them away from the person behind them. "Come on, come on." She muttered to herself. The car backed off, but then switched lanes, sling-shoting around the Chrysler, quickly getting in front of them, cutting them off. The car in front braked suddenly, causing Erin to lose control of the Chrysler, sending it twenty feet down a snowy embankment, before it came to a stop against a tree.


End file.
